20. Talk about the book you’ve read on your own (Secret Garden)

I’ve read wonderful book of outstanding novelist and children’s writer Frances Hodgson Burnett (1849 – 1924). The Secret Garden” was written in 1911. It is probably her most enduring work. She shows the garden as a means of health and as a symbol of the growing personality.

The Secret Garden opens by introducing us to Mary Lennox, unsightly little girl who loves no one and whom no one loves. She is living in India with her parents but is rarely permitted to see them. The outbreak of cholera devastates (разрушила) the Lennox family, leaving no one alive but herself. She is found by a group of soldiers and sent to live in Yorkshire with her uncle. A man whom everyone describes as "a miserable hunchback, (ужасный горбун)" Master Craven has been in a state of grief (горе) ever since the death of his wife. After arriving, Mary hears about a secret garden from Martha, her maidservant. This garden belonged to Mistress Craven; after her death the garden's door was locked and the key were buried beneath the earth (похоронен под землёй). Mary becomes curious about the secret garden, and determines to find it. It has an extremely positive effect upon Mary. She almost immediately becomes less sickly, more engaged with the world, and less foul-tempered. Her curiosity is whetted when she hears strange cries coming from one of the manor's distant rooms. Mrs. Medlock, the head of the servants, absolutely forbids her to seek out the source of the cries. She is distracted from this mystery when she discovers, with the robin's help, the key to the secret garden. She immediately gets down to work there. Dickon, who brings her a set of gardening tools and promises to help her bring the secret garden back to life. One night, Mary hears the distant cries and goes off in search of their source. She finds Colin Craven, her invalid cousin. Colin was born shortly before his mother's death, and his father cannot bear to look at him because the boy painfully reminds him of his late wife. Colin has been bedridden (прикован к постели) since his birth, and it is believed that he will die an early death. His servants have been commanded to obey his, and Colin has become fantastically spoiled. Colin and Mary strike up(быстро завязали дружбу) a friendship. Dickon and Mary secretly begin bringing Colin out into the secret garden. On the first of these outings, the children are discovered by Ben Weatherstaff, who has been looking after the secret garden for ten years. Weatherstaff thought that Colin has crooked legs and a crooked back. Colin, made furious by this question, forces himself to stand up on his own feet for the first time in his life. After this feat, Colin's health improves : the secret garden, the springtime, and Dickon's company have the same good effect upon him that they did upon Mary. The children determine to keep Colin's improvement a secret, so that he can surprise his father when he returns from his trip abroad. The three children spend every day of the summer in the secret garden. Only one other person is admitted into the secret is Dickon's mother. Susan sends a letter to Master Craven, telling him to hurry home so that he might see his son; she does not, however, specify why, in deference to Colin's secret. Master Craven returns home immediately. He goes into the secret garden because of a dream in which the voice of his late wife told him that he might find her there. Just as he lays his hand to the doorknob, Colin comes rushing out and falls into his arms. Father and son are reconciled, and the miracle of Colin's recovery becomes known to all.